Tuesday, 10 December 2013

Speakout Advanced p 71. The Adventure of English - Birth of a Language. Extra Listening

THE ADVENTURE OF ENGLISH

BIRTH OF A LANGUAGE
Starts at minute 3, second 30.

1.Where can we still hear a language that sounds close to the ancestor of English?

2. What words sound familiar to the English ear?

3. Why can we recognise these words?

4. What were the West-Germanic tribes who invented these words like?

5. How far is the English coast from the island of Terschelling?

6. When did these tribes make sail to look for a better life?

7. Who were the first people who invaded Britain?

8. Why did they abandon these islands?

9. What happened at Pevensey Castle in AD 491?

10. What did the word “Wealas” mean?

11. How much of mainland Britain did these Germanic tribes occupy in the sixth century?

12. What do the following endings mean?

-ing:

-ton:

-ham:

KEY

1. In Friesland (it is a province in the north of the Netherlands)

2. three, four, frost, freeze, mist, blue

3. Both modern Frisian and modern English can be traced back to the same family

4. warlike (aggressive and wanting to fight), adventurous people

5. 250 miles

6. In the fifth century

7. The Romans

8. The empire crumbled (collapsed. Fell into small fragments or particles; disintegrated)

9. Germanic invaders laid siege and slaughtered the Celts who had taken refuge here. Not one of them was left alive.Lay siege to sth: to begin a siege of a town, building, etc.Siege: operation in which an army tries to capture a town by surrounding it and stopping the supply of food, etc. to the people inside (cercar)

10. Foreigner and slave

11. Half of mainland Britain

12. –ing: the people of; –ton: enclosure or village; -ham: farm
It is commonly believed that the name 'Birmingham' comes from "Beorma inga ham", meaning farm of the sons (or descendants) of Beorma